Following their hugely well-received, refreshingly outlandish debut EP for Phantasy, Israeli club outsiders Red Axes return to the label with another three-track delight of leftfield dance entitled ‘Sound Test’.
Debuting on Phantasy in 2018, ‘Sipoor’ by Red Axes was massive. The release received critical acclaim, not to mention heavy support within the club realm from DJs like Call Super, Jennifer Cardini, Ewan Pearson, Fort Romeau, Massimiliano Pagliara, Chloe, and many more.
Highly soughtafter by those who’ve heard Erol Alkan unleash it in recent months, ‘Sound Test’ kickstarts Phantasy Sound’s 2019 - a rolling tool for a dance floor sliding into another dimension, constructed around a dramatic, numeric countdown. A minimal, skeletal build builds (and builds!) throughout to one of the most out-there breakdowns in recent rave-blotted memory, as the Axes slowly but surely rebuild their house to even more outlandish new proportions. Ten, nine, eight, seven...
‘Shabak Shalom’ quickly snatches the record back from outer space and drags it deep into the basement, zoning in on the gritter, strobe-ready sound that defines the duo’s most club-ready work. All of the Axes’ weapons of choice are deployed as unusually as per usual; militant drums, battered electronics, fucked- frequencies, wiry post-punk guitar lines and lovingly drowned traditional instruments blend to create their own special, slightly-menacing interpretation of hi-NRG.
Finally, on the unapologetically sprawling and immediately effective closing number, ‘Kookoo Pa-pa’, Red Axes demonstrate their inherent talent, if proof were ever needed, of conjuring rolling, simmering tension in otherworldly shades. Those who enjoyed the cartoonish motor FX of ‘Teroof’ will be delighted to find themselves found into an even wackier race this time round, hitting on the origins of Chicago jack, acid meltdowns and screeching no-wave.